This week Stuff We Like is brought to you by Freddy MacKay and the letter 'M.'

Why you ask?

Because the letter 'M' is all kinds of awesomeness and has many wonderful words (MacKay) that start with it. And besides having some fabulous words starting with 'm' (and let's face it, squirrels like Freddy), there are some wonderful foods that begin with our letter 'm'.

One such food? Macaronni and Cheese.

Mac & Cheese is manna from the stars above and the earth below. It is one of the quintessential comfort foods of the US.

When we were younger, it was something simple and palatable that everyone would eat. Mac & Cheese also fills you up so you don't feel hungry. It has a nostalgia to it that helps comfort us when we're older. How many people can remember their moms making it for them when it was cold outside, or you were feeling sick, or had it as a part of family dinner? A lot of us. It's to the point you feel bad for a person who had never had homemade Mac & Cheese, because that's how you were shown you were loved. It was there to comfort, and it did, and still does to this day for many Americans. So many of us have our own family recipes that we have to use. Because it has to be the one we grew up with or it's not the same (my mom tried cauliflower and mustard in it one time and that so did not go over with the house). It reminds us of simpler times, of an easy flow to life that many of us long for in this digital age - with everything whizzing by so fast. We'll slow down and enjoy the Mac & Cheese because it makes us warm and fills us, heart and soul. What about you? What is your comfort food?

Our little eZine that could has gotten a lovely review from Molly Lolly. She gave the eZine a 4.5/5 stars and loved the information inside. Some of the things she had to say were:

"It’s a re-heralding of the age of e-Magazines and it’s so well done. It’s infinitely better than the ones you would find back in the 90s and early 2000s."

When an author is not an author by Angel Martinez "This was a very interesting look at where people draw the line between “author” and “writer” and the subtle distinction between the two. Now of course this is all Angel’s opinion. However she brings much truth to the table."

Facsimile by Mina MacLeod - 4.5 Stars "WOAH! Holy surprise ending. I was not expecting it at all. There are so many hints and little breadcrumbs leading you to the ending."

Leash on Love by Beany Sparks - 4.5 Stars "Cute little story! I liked how devoted Matty was to his dog and the other dogs at the doggy day care. Johnno was sweet and very interested in Matty."

Artist Spotlight: Catherine Dair I recently discovered Catherine’s work. Actually, a few weeks before this spotlight. She does beautiful work for authors, bloggers, and her own art. I definitely suggest you checking out her stuff if you haven’t already."

Man of the House by Brigid Collins - 5 Stars "Holy moly, did not expect the twist at the end of this one. The character showed so much compassion. Such a wonderful story."

Avalon by J. Scott Coatsworth - 4.5 Stars "Oh man, the emotion! Tony and Jake were so beautiful together. They both gave up so much to be together and help each other."

Interview with Lexi Ander by Freddy MacKay "I loved their opinion on how Science Fiction/Fantasy has grown over the last few years and the LGBT side of SFF can stand alone alongside mainstream SFF without the romance piece."

If you haven't had the chance to check out these wonderful stories, go to your nearest eBook provider now and treat yourself! Support our little Queer eZine and let us give more wonderful stories to everyone.

We'd like to take a few minutes to talk about queering fiction and the importance of queer heroes. Angel's starting us off...

Hi all! Angel Martinez here. *waves* Back in the 90's, I worked strange jobs in corporate land and I did a lot of traveling, a lot of time in airports with unexpected layovers and delays. We didn't have e-readers, so I'd often haunt the nearest newsstand and pick up whatever SF or Fantasy book they had on the shelves. I read a lot of crap. But what I saw in far too many books during that time was something that disturbed me profoundly. Why was the lesbian or gay character always a psycho? Or he/she was all right, but had to die? Why did all the writers write queer characters as if being LGBT was a character flaw?

That, and the fact that a very puzzled younger me could never figure out why Sam married Rosie when he clearly loved Frodo, was what drove me to start writing gay characters of my own. I wanted gay characters who were people. Flawed, but just as complex and sane as the person next to them, just as capable of healthy love and of great deeds. While I found a scattering here and there, it wasn't enough, and the gay heroes just weren't there. I realized I'd just have to write my own.

And Angel was one of many authors who picked up their, well, keyboards and started typing. I, Freddy MacKay, was a reader at this point and to my surprise, a new genre popped up. Angel, and many others on this blog hop, wanted to show fictional characters that represented the good in all of us queer folk. As people who deserved to be loved and have their happy endings. Us queer folk craved being shown as human and loved. And out of that, MM Romance was born, knocking the doors off the old conventions of being bad, or psycho, or the one to always die.

Gay romance became an open doorway for queer readers to find themselves being presented positively and for getting those long-craved happy endings. Then the wonderful thing? Ally's found gay romance too. Romance, the biggest industry out there noticed us, and the industry grew. Wonderful unicorn and rainbow explosions later the field is huge, people are supporting us, loving us, what more could we want?

Heh. Well, there is more to life than romance. *gasp* I know. Frightening prospect. *laughs* No. No, not really. Romance was the luckiest and best place to start giving us positive representations of ourselves. Not only could we see, yes, it's okay to love ourselves, other people could see it too. Talk about it. Support love. Break down those doors stopping us from love.

But love is only one part of our lives. If we're lucky, it's one of the greatest things we can experience, but there is more to life. The fight for the right to marry is not the end all for us. It's the start of equal rights. Being able to marry the person you love no matter what starts the ball rolling. Just like gay romance has started the ball rolling for other genres for LGBTQ to break into. Because romance breaks down the greatest barrier of the unknown: fear.

When reading a fantasy novel, I wanted to see me. When reading a mystery, I wanted to see me. When reading another science fiction novel, I wanted to see me.

Now, you could argue that the romance genre has those: fantasies, mysteries, science fiction stories and so much more. And we do, but just as fantasy and science ficiton have their own genres outside of romance in mainstream fiction, as a queer folk, I want that for my LGBTQ characters too.

Why?

Because it means we're accepting LGBTQ as part of the every day normal life where we can be represented in any fiction and be accepted.

That would be a huge step, for anyone to be able to pick up a book with a non-hetero character and accept it. To read it. To enjoy it. To not care that the character was gay or trans or bi, but accept that the identity of the character was only part of the story and there was so much more.

My gender and sexual identity are a part of me, but does not define me. I am a science junkie, a nerd, a lover of camping and hiking, an old movie lover, and a reader of books. And when I can see me being part of a story but not have to be a romance, and for people to read and love it anyway, then I'd know we're going to be okay.

That I am safe. That my friends are safe. That people are seeing me.

That people are seeing someone human. Nothing more.

The Mischiefers have a Rafflecopter going for the duration of HAHABT. Just enter below for the chance to win one of the many prizes being offered.

Below are the other authors, artists, reviwers, and publishers participating in HAHABT.
Just click the links below to experience many more wonderful blogs.

Morning Everyone, Toni Griffin here with another episode of Stuff We Like. This week I'm here to talk about Audio Books.

Personally, I love them. I listen to them in the car, whenever my child isn't present, at my EDJ, they allow me to still have my book fix while I'm doing my work. At home while I'm cleaning or playing games, even in the kitchen while I'm cooking.I can read all the latest releases while still catching up with all my favourite couples.

These are just a couple of my favourite authors & series. I can't tell you the number of times I've listened to these.

Some people have problems with the narrators and the accents they use, the way they talk or the way they pronounce words. Honestly, for me, there's only ever been one audio book that I started and haven't finished. I couldn't tell you if that was because of the narrator or the actual story as it was a new one that I hadn't read previously.

Some narrators go above and beyond, while others stick strictly to the story. Either way, my hat goes off to each and every one of them. I couldn't read my stories aloud, and the amount of effort and work that goes into one of these productions is incredible.

Mischief Corner Books is looking at expanding to Audio and I wanted to put the question to my readers:Would you like to see some of my books published in Audio?If so which ones?

It's Wednesday! Here with our weekly Stuff We Like post is Angel Martinez - who has summer activities on her mind.

OK - it's no secret that I despise the heat. It's partly a neurological thing, but I just hate everything about it. The sweating, the tiredness, the way it makes everything hurt. However, the hotter weather does allow you to do one really wonderful thing - swim!

I learned to swim early and spent most of my childhood summers in the pool - swim team, various lessons, (yes, I took synchronized swimming, shut up) games of Marco Polo and Shark, and just messing around in the water. Swimming is natural for me and now that my body is no longer happy on land, I'm actually more comfortable in the water. More competent and agile. Wherever I travel, I try to find time to visit the pool or the ocean.

Some of my favorite swimming spots over the years? Hmm, there have been some cool ones...

Long ago, I used to travel a lot for work and when it was for a small, independent bank, they would put us up in the best places. One of the more elaborate hotels I got to visit was The Buttes resort in Tempe. Their pool is amazing, both in structure and placement in the landscape. With waterfalls and quirky little features, it was a great place to recover from the Arizona sun. But the best part was the view out over the desert. I spent an evening floating there, watching in awe as an anvil shaped thunderstorm rolled in, far out in the desert, forked lightning slicing through the air and painting the clouds in purples and reds.

Pools are nice - a good beach is better. I'm not a big fan of our beaches here at home. The Delaware and Jersey beaches are too crowded, the water too churned, the undertow often too rough. It was fun when we were younger, but now it's just an exercise in dodging people and trying not to get battered.

I love the Mayaguez beaches in Puerto Rico. Mayaguez is on the western coast. It's smaller than San Juan, and not as crazy tourist wise. And the beaches? This picture doesn't do it justice. You can set up under the shade of palms and wade out into the sea on lovely clean shelves of sand. The waves are quiet here and the water oh-so-blue. It's so peaceful and restful and lovely.

Hapuna Beach in Hawai'i, the inside/outside pool at the Hard Rock in Albuquerque, the adults-only pool at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando - so many great places for swimming memories! What's your favorite cool place to swim?